a device for catching fish and fowl. See the article FISHERY.

The taking fowls by nets is the readiest and most advantageous of all others, where numbers are to be taken. The making the nets is very easy, and what every true sportman ought to be able to do for himself. All the necessary tools are wooden needles, of which there should be several of different sizes, some round and others flat; a pair of round pointed and flat scissors; and a wheel to wind off the thread. The packthread is to be of different strength and thickness, according to the sort of birds to be taken; and the general size of the meshes, if not for very small birds, is two inches from point to point. The nets should neither be made too deep nor too long, for they are then difficult to manage; and they must be veiled on each side with twisted thread. The natural colour of the thread is too bright and pale, and is therefore in many cases to be altered. The most usual colour is the rufflet; which is to be obtained by plunging the net, after it is made, into a tanner's pit, and letting it lie there till it be sufficiently tinged: this is of a double service to the net, since it preserves the thread as well as alters the colour. The green colour is given by chapping some green wheat and boiling it in water, and then soaking the net in this green tincture. The yellow colour is given in the same manner with the decoction of celandine; which gives a pale straw-colour, which is the colour of stubble in the harvest-time. The brown nets are to be used on ploughed lands, the green on grass grounds, and the yellow on stubble-lands.